


Late Night Hugs

by gooddadstan



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian gets some well needed hugs, Gen, Hugs, I’m not really sure how to tag that sorry, Kinda self harm, Nightmares, None fluff with left forcing Bruce to be a good parent, batman bingo 2020, in this house we love and respect Stephanie Brown, minor injury, unintentional self harm(?)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22335715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gooddadstan/pseuds/gooddadstan
Summary: It had been a while since Bruce had woken up to screaming. Between being dead, his children being scattered across the globe, his restless nights spent in the cave... Months, at the least. He blames that for why he wasn’t the one there first.Aka, Steph comforts Damian after a nightmare and softbullies Bruce into being a good dad
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602346
Comments: 3
Kudos: 108





	Late Night Hugs

It had been a while since Bruce had woken up to screaming. Between being dead, his children being scattered across the globe, his restless nights spent in the cave… Months, at the least. He blames that for why he wasn’t the one there first. 

He slides up to the door with his usual swift, practiced grace, and hears murmuring from beyond the crack in the door. It takes him less than a second to place it, even with the voice being more soothing coos than actual coherent phrases. It’s Stephanie. Bruce didn’t even know Stephanie was in _Gotham,_ much less the manor. He frowned at that, making a mental note to update his security system and keep better watch in his allies. He didn’t want anyone else stuck somewhere he couldn’t get to them. 

Peeking through the door, he can’t explain to himself why he doesn’t go through. Damian needed comfort, but Stephanie was in there and he couldn’t bring himself to go in and have to deal with the tension. So he stood outside. Like a real emotionally competent person would. Yup, there are no glaring issues with this situation. None at all. Dick would have been yelling at him if the boy was anywhere near Gotham, he’s sure.

Inside the room, Stephanie stood by Damian’s bed, both arms holding Damian’s to keep him from clawing at his chest, his arms and legs, his neck. There were already red splotches of blood on the once pristine sheets. She’s repeating every calming mantra she can think of, and scrambling every few seconds to add more to her rotation. She has to brace one knee against the mattress to get the leverage she needs, and she’s certain that the hits she’d taken in the process of creating the hold would leave bruises. She holds strong through the kicks, his attempts to free his arms that they aren’t quite long enough to work for, doesn’t wince at the screams that never seem to stop ripping out of his throat.

Minutes pass, and the screams and thrashes from the bed begin to slow. His throat screamed raw, he breathes in ragged breaths, and Steph can feel his heart rate speeding up beneath her fingers as he slides quickly into consciousness. The instant tensing of his muscles underneath her hands is enough of a warning for the step back, and as soon as he finishes the practiced movements meant to get him out of the hold, his eyes open. They’re green, a shining, acidic green that Steph has seen too many times to not know what it means. 

She raises both hands in a placating gesture and watches as Damian forces his muscles to relax. “Is there a reason for your presence here, Brown?” And Steph knows that nightmares aren’t a light matter in this family. Steph knows that it’s easy to revert to old habits in the hazy awareness he’d be stuck in after a nightmare. Hell, she appreciates that she can use what name Damian calls her to gauge how bad the nightmare shook him. But they were past this whole ‘Brown’ thing. They had been for a while. She wouldn’t admit to him even in the daytime that it hurt. 

Taking full advantage of that bat-training grace, Steph almost glides to sit on the bed next to Damian. “You were having a nightmare, kid, with the screams and scratching and everything.” She’d been here after nightmares many times. She knew he knew why she was here, and that he knew she was the one who was holding him when he was still asleep. She also knew that this pretense helped ease him into some sense of calm. So she went along with it, every time. 

Damian makes a noise of affirmation in the back of his throat, indicating that he heard her, but no words follow. Steph turns to face him more fully, scanning his face for the familiar cues that she can rarely find in the daytime. She can almost feel the creases on his face under her fingers, patterns too familiar and too deep, and she does her best to ignore the heavy sadness that settles in her chest. On Wonder Woman this boy needs a hug. 

She opens her arms wide, taking care to telegraph every movement before it happens, and wraps them softly around the tense puddle of nerves that Damian had become. The hand that wrapped around his head ran through his hair as soothingly as she could make it, and she kept her grip light enough that there was no doubt he could escape if he wanted to. 

He sits tensely in the hold for more than a minute, unmoving and unresponsive, until all at once his muscles relax again and he melts into the hug. He pushes his face into the fabric of Steph’s shirt like he could disappear into it if he pushes hard enough. His arms wrap around Steph’s stomach, holding as tight as he could, and Steph tightens her own grip in turn. They rock slowly back and forth, and Steph doesn’t comment on the growing moisture on the front of her shirt. She never does. 

“Damian, is this a talking night or no?” Her voice is nothing higher than a whisper into his hair, but he hears her. He always seems to, after nightmares. 

There’s a few seconds of hesitation, and Steph’s so incredibly proud of him every time this happens, that he’s actually willing to accept the help that she’s offering instead of shrugging it off with harsh words and harsher actions like he did when he first arrived. The kid’s grown, and she doesn’t think he hears how proud people are of him enough. But she feels the shift of his shaking head on her torso, and lets him bring the movement to a stop before responding. 

“That’s okay, Dami, let’s go clean those scratches though.” She lightly peels him from her, and gives him an encouraging smile. “I’m going to go get the first aid kit and a glass of water for you, how about you take account of what’s there, yeah?” He gives a stiff nod, and there’s not a moment between the nod and Stephanie’s controlled gait towards the nearest kitchen. 

She sideyes Bruce the moment she shuts the door behind her. Motioning for him to follow her, she waits until they’re halfway to the kitchen before she speaks. “Was there a reason you decided to just wait outside the door instead of coming in to comfort your own child?” Her whisper turns to a hiss before a sigh, and one hands drags down her face in exhaustion.

“You had the situation handled.” His words were stiff even to him. 

Steph doesn’t pause at the threshold to the kitchen, moving straight to one of the first aid kits. “And yet you still observed.” She doesn’t hide the exhaustion in her voice, and Bruce is forcefully made aware of the fact that Steph had patrolled that night by the brand new bandages on her forearm. 

“...Yes.” The sound of the first aid kit being set down on the countertop punctuates her nodding, and she turns to the upper cabinetry with her eyes entirely focused on Bruce.

“ _Christ,_ Bruce, we already did the heavy lifting on teaching the kid how to communicate, you’ve had to have noticed that. All you have to do is start a conversation about something he cares about.” There’s a stiff silence, and Steph steps up onto the counter to grab a specific glass from the top shelf.

“And what does he care about.” Steph might have dropped the glass at that if it weren’t for the fact that she’d been at this end of the man’s emotion incompetence for years at this point, but it doesn’t stop the long-suffering sigh from taking a good ten seconds.

With one finger, she points directly at Bruce as she steps off the counter. “Find that out first. And actually ask him, don’t go around stalking your own kids. Again.” And maybe Steph has been around this family too much if she knows that Bruce would rather stalk his kids for weeks on end to get information than just ask them a simple question. 

Bruce maintains his silence throughout the time it takes for the glass to be filled with water. Fumbling around for something to say, he can’t particularly explain why the next thing out of his mouth is “You did good with him, Stephanie.” 

She stops in her tracks, first aid kit in one hand and full glass of water in the other. Her head tilts to look at him out of the corner of her eye, blue eyes staring directly into his. “I tried my best. Dick was the only other one to do that for him. You should too.” And she’s gone, leaving Bruce to stand there in the kitchen.

The next morning, Bruce watched Damian closely. Stephanie had left hours ago, but the bandages hidden under Damian’s pajama pants were well applied and he’s certain that the girl didn’t leave that room again until there were at least ten more minutes of hugging. Damian was… tired, which was to be expected, but he also seemed… happier. Like that reminder that there were people who would stand by him, who would help him after a nightmare or offer solidarity in restless nights, meant the world to him. Bruce supposed it did. 

And Stephanie’s words still ringing about in his head, he resolved to finally do something he should have done long ago. Taking a measured sip of his coffee, he keeps his eyes on his newspaper as he asks, “So Damian, how would you like to go to the hobby store?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second installment in my Batman Bingo 2020 board! I can’t figure out how to link my tumblr because I’m a lil bit of a fool, but if you enjoyed don’t be afraid to look me up @gooddadstan and request something! I’m always open to interact <3


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